How Do You Use Your Leftovers?

Hmm... now thats a tough one. For one, it depends on what is left over. If its something that can easily get spoiled, I wouldn't even try salvaging that. But, if its something that will stay fresh or almost fresh under refrigeration or without it, I generally keep it around. If it can be reused, I reuse it. If it can be eaten after reheating, I do that too.

 

I throw them at my compost bin or feed it to the dogs. There is not much to do with edible leftovers anyway.

 

It depends on the leftover. Fried meat can be preserved in the fridge for a short time because it tends to be tough as days pass. Just the other day, several sticks of pork barbecue had expired. And like @davos, expired food here goes directly to the compost bin to at least give us some benefit in the form of fertilizer. But some other food stuff like rice can last a week when kept covered inside the fridge. How about making fried rice from that?

 

We try not to have leftovers for we tend to forget about it and then a little bowl way in the back comes out and it's spoiled, so wasteful. We try to make smaller amounts or eat it up the next day at our home. Leftovers not a popular food in my home.

 

I like to make soup out of my leftovers. I will freeze the leftovers if it is a large amount or we just didn't get to it because we were out of the house. I do try to cook only what will be eaten so that we do not have leftovers often. 2 of my family members will not eat leftovers and no one eats the soup but me.

 

I always finish off my leftovers, I actually plan for a week of leftovers so I only have to cook once a week except for things like salads. I eat my leftovers for the next meals until it's all gone. There are some things that can be repurposed like turkey after Thanksgiving can be used in omelets or soup. Mashed potatoes can become pancakes with an egg and a frying pan. I just think you can get really creative with it. Plus some leftovers are better reheated like pizza.

 

I actually love leftovers, and so does many restaurants that people eat at and don't even know. I never dispose of food that I know is still good, especially something like chicken that can be used for something like a chicken salad.

There are plenty of ideas that one can come up with, I had some left over fish, and cut them up like chicken fingers and ate them with dip.

 

I'm one of those people who always cooks in bulk. As the food cooked can last a week or more, I hardly have left overs since I'll only serve myself only the right amount food to fill me up. If for any reason I'm unable to eat it all I could refreeze it and have it as my lunch or breakfast the next day.

 

I often have leftovers. Since I am generally just cooking for myself, I usually have a lot of leftovers. However, I get tired of eating the same foods day after day so I try to mix them up and serve them as sides. If worse comes to worse, I can always freeze them. It is just the way that I can make the sort of foods I like.

 

I don't have much leftovers now because I have learned to cook just enough for one meal at a time. Before, I used to cook enough for the whole day and the day after that, there would be some leftovers. What I do is just put them all together into one dish. If I am frying rice, then it's very simple. Just about anything can be fried with the rice.

 

Honestly, I think that it depends on the type of leftovers. Usually I make things that are very good as leftovers, like rice and quinoa. I add toppings, such as vegetables and sriracha, to the food as I eat it, and just refrigerate the leftover rice or quinoa. The next day I can make a new meal by adding something different on top, like tofu, guacamole, beans, etc. These are also the kind of things that are very good for bringing to lunch the next day! You could also use rice as a breakfast by putting eggs in it, or as a dessert by putting fruit in it. Grains are very versatile!

 

Baked chicken comes to mind. There is a lot you can do with the leftovers of a baked chicken. I used to cook 2 a week just so we would have the leftovers. The baked chicken itself is moist and delicious for a meal. I pour off the broth and skim the fat off. That can be frozen and is great for soups. With the leftovers I can make chicken and dumplings, chicken salad ( I like to put cranberries and pecans in it), chicken spaghetti is absolutely delicious, chicken divan is a good quick meal, sandwiches are great too.

 

When it comes to leftovers, I throw mine away. I once read somewhere that one of the things that keeps people most unhealthy is eating other people's left overs. My mother does it a lot. Because she has paid for the food and doesn't want to have wasted that money, she will eat all of our left overs, even if she is already full from her own dinner. Leftovers in another sense, are great. Stop me from having to cook two days in a row

 

Although having any leftovers is a fairly rare thing in my household - on the odd occasion that I do have some - as absolutely nothing ever goes to waste in my house - they are generally frozen for a later date or transformed - with the addition of a few extra ingredients - into an entirely different but very tasty lunchtime snack or depending on the quantity - the following nights meal.

 

I usually always use my left-overs, even though, as you wrote, some people don't. Depending on what type of food it is, say chicken for instance, I can just re-heat and eat the leftover chicken 'plain', as in the same way that I originally prepared it. Or, I'll add a few ingredients to it and make chicken salad, or chicken tacos, or chicken soup. I do that with most left-over meats.
Vegetables, I can add them to eggs and cheese (!!) and make an omelette, or add them as a filler to soups. I don't really like wasting food and if my leftovers still taste good, I can find a purpose for them.

 

We store it again in the ref or we feed it to the pets. We have 2 dogs and 1 cat, so nothing ever really gets to waste in here. Even old bread gets fed to the dogs.

 

I never let leftovers go to waste. In our household we re-heat them and eat them the following day or I might use them to help create a new dish. I can't stand throwing away perfectly good food because it's a leftover, I never knew there were people out here that do this.

 

I try not to have too much in the way of leftovers, but I know if I am going to then I mentally prepare dishes fro them. Yesterday I cooked an eggplant with tomato sauce and onions and that will be a good basis for other meals with pasta or with fried potatoes for a few days.

Generally I try not to have too much because of fridge space and also to have a varied diet. There is no point eating food when you force yourself, so I keep any excess to a maximum of three days worth.

 

I consider myself the kind of person who likes saving the leftovers for later because I always eat more than what I have to eat and therefore, I have to cook a little bit more than normal.